Spring-hinge



(Model.)

F. R. BARTLETT.

, SPRING HINGE.

No. 398,350. Patented Nov. 27, 1888.

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` UNITnn STATES PATENT Fries.

FREDERIC R. BARTLETT, on FREEPORT, ILLINOIS.

SPRING-HINGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 393,350, dated November27, 1888.

Application filed January 3, 1887. Serial No. 923,184. (Model.)

T0 all wir/0772, t may concern..e

Be it known that I, FREDERIC R. BARTLETT, a resident of Freeport, in thecounty of` Stephenson and State of Illinois,have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Spring- Hinges; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itpertains to make and use the same.

The novelty in my invention lies in means for rendering a hinge bothright and left hand, although the ears of one leaf both lie upon thesame side of the corresponding ears of the other leaf, and in certainminor details of construction.

Figure I of the accompanying drawings shows a spring-hinge embodying myinvention, seen perpcndicularly to its outer surface. Fig. 2 is asection on the line a: y, looking in the direction of the arrow a. Fig.3 shows the saine parts as Fig. 2, one leaf having been revolved onehundred and eighty degrees, asin opening the door. Fig. 4 is a detailview, eX-

Fig. 5 is a section made by a plane parallel to the plane of the leavesand passing through the axis of the coil.

In the drawings, A Aare hinge-leaves provided with ears B B andconnected by means of short pintles or gudgeons C, preferably integralwith the outer ears and resting in slots in the inner ears. In the spacebetween the inner ears of the connected leaves is a coiled spring, E,supported and connected with the hinge-leaves by four spring hooks orplates, DD D D', all of which are hooked to suitable lugs or pins, F F',on the hinge-leaves. The four hooks are connected and held in line by anarbor or pintle, H, and the construction of the hooks and the arbor andtheir mechanical connection constitute material parts of this invention,and are fully set forth in a later portion of this specification.

It is evident that in the hinge shown, when it is used as a right-handhinge-that is, when the leaf A is attached to the door and the leaf A tothe jamb or casing-the door will be supported by theliinge, even if thespring E, with its pintle H,be removed, for the ears upon the leaf Amust rest upon the ears upon the leaf A. Itis equally evident that ifthe other leaf,

A, be attached to the door the latter will not be supported withoutother devices, for the leaves upon the leafA would lie below those uponthe opposite leaf. In other language, the hinge is evidently right-handonly unless other parts be added. It has been customary to overcome thisdifficulty by connecting the spring hooks or plates in pairs with rigidbars to prevent their approach toward each other, and to allow the frameso formed to receive the pressure tending to separate the leaves when ahinge like the one shown was used for left-hand doors. That plan is,however, objectionable in adding to the expense of constru ction,to thedifficulty of inserting the coil, and in certain other respects.

In my improved hinge the coil is attached directly to both the innerspring-hooks by placing its ends respectively in grooves m, Fig. 2, thespring being slightly compressed longitudinally, and thus hold the endsin the grooves by its elasticity, The inner springhooks are eachprovided with a boss, J, to receive the spring-coil and keep its ends inposition. The inner faces of the outer springhooks are also providedwith bosses I, which enter corresponding depressions in the innerspring-hooks, as shown in Fig. 5. Theboss is also shown in Fig. 4, theview being the same as in Fig. 2,the spring-hook D being indicated inposition by dotted lines.

The spring pintle or arbor II is provided with terminal disks K,whichlie outside ofthe outer spring-hooks and prevent undue spreading of theparts through the elasticity of the spring. The force ofthe springpresses the inner hooks downward or toward the plane of the leaves withgreat force, and the consequent tendency of the spring to rotate aboutthe loops F F', supporting these hooks, is transmitted from the hooks Dto the hooks D through the pintle H, and thence to the other leaf, Whoserigidity counteracts it. Now, it being desirable to cast thespring-pintle and the hooks through which it passes, the object of theboss I becomes apparent. There are always slight and nearly constantvariations in cast-work, and these are sufficient to spoil a smallbearing, while the same variation in a larger bearing would beimmaterial; hence the boss I, which transmits great force,

is practically a great improvement, while it adds nothing to the cost ofthe hinge. It also secures the outer hook from disengagement by a blowwhen the spring with its hooks is disengaged from the leaves.

The heads K are of any size larger than the gudgeon C, Fig. 3, andproject slightly beyond the outer hooks, the total length of thespringpintle being equal, approximately, to the distance between theinner ears upon the hingeleaves.

The ordinary hinge, having its leaves con strueted as shown, can only beused upon a right-hand door, or one swinging to the right, as it ispushed open, and the leaf A must be fastened to the jamb or casing ifthe top of the hinge be the end toward which the arrow a, Fig. l, isdirected, for if the leaf A be secured to the jamb and the leaf A to thedoor neither of the ears B B of the leaf A' has any support whateveruntil it has fallen below its proper position. W'hen the door is closed,the door with the attached leaf sinks bodily, the springpintle followingthe retreating lower gudgeon, C, until stopped by the spring when it hasreached its limit of longitudinal compression. The springpintle hasusually been made a little shorter than the distance from the lower leafof the upper pair to t-he upper leaf of the lower pair, and in one styleof this hinge the spring-pintle has been provided with a head at eachend for retaining the hooks I) D or corresponding links. \Vhen suchconstruction has been employed, the closed door falls a less distance,because the pintles head prc vents its following the gudgeon C throughthe lower of the ears T3; but even in this case the practical result isthe same, for as the door opens the spring-pintle moves laterally awayfrom the axis of rotation ofthe hinge and passes without thecircumference of the lower 0f the ears B, when, being no longersupported thereby, it falls a further amount precisely as before.Vere the other end of the hinge made the top by reversal, the hingewould still be right hand and would equally fail to support the door;but the opposite leaf must be secured to the jamb.

For obvious reasons I prefer that the head K should lie i n a depressionin the outer springhook; butthis is not essential. The fonrhooks aremade with oblique slots equal in width to the diameter of thespring-pintle, and these are upon the lower side of each and oppositelyinclined in each pair, so that the hooks must be removed or placed uponthe pintle one at a time. Owing to the opposite inclination of theslots, the pintle could not drop out in any position of the leaves, evenif not retained by the head K when the latter lies in a depression, asshown. When formed in this Inanner, the four hooks and the pintle arecast separately without cores, and may be put together without fittingor machinework-a novel result.

Having now shown and described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a spring-hinge, the combination, with two articulated leaveshaving the ears of one above the corresponding cars of the other, of

a spring-pintle pivotally connected to eachv leaf, extending from thelower to tbeupper pair of ears and provided at each end with a headparallel to the contiguous ear, the sum of the radii of each head andadjacent car being greater than the greatest distance between thehingeaxis and the axis of the spring-pintle, whereby the springpintlemay in all positions of the door serve as a strut between the pairs ofears, and thus permit the use of the hinge as either right or left hand,substantially as set forth.

2. In a spring-hinge of the class described, a pair of double hooks ateach end ofthe spring connecting, respectively, a hinge-leaf and thespringvpintle, one of said hooks having a boss concentric with saidpintlefittingacorresponding depression in the opposite hook,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

FREDERIC R. BAR'lLETl.

Vitnesses:

Oscar; TAYLOR, WM. J. HALL.

